The present patent application is related to copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/272,661, filed concurrently herewith for APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING WARPED, BOWED AND BENT CREDIT CARDS.
The present invention relates to credit card and smart card readers and, more particularly, to enclosures for credit and smart card readers having provision for receiving debris and other foreign objects.
Credit and smart cards are becoming a ubiquitous phenomena in the civilized world. Cards are used to purchase goods and services, to rent vehicles and equipment and pay for the fuel to operate them, to withdraw cash, to travel by land, sea and air, to access buildings, and even to make telephone calls. As omnipresent as the cards, of course, are the devices used to xe2x80x9creadxe2x80x9d them. These card readers are a common sight at retail establishments such as supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and department stores, airline terminals, gas stations, and telephone kiosks.
Where once only trained personnel were permitted access to the card readers, the nature of business has changed to the extent that members of the public are now permitted and even encouraged to use them directly to purchase their goods or services. Thus, card readers increasingly appear at public or semi-public locations around the world. Moreover, many of them are rarely under the supervision or surveillance of trained personnel.
As a result, it is not unusual for debris and foreign objects (coins or dollar bills, for example) to be placed in the card slot of the readers either inadvertently by inexperienced users, by juveniles, or by vandals. When such events occur, the foreign matter has a tendency to block or jam the entrance to the reader, preventing use of the reader and requiring maintenance personnel to remedy the situation before the reader can be placed in operation.
Some credit and smart card readers have a debris opening that allows items other than full credit cards to drop or fall out of the card reader. This opening prevents jamming that would require maintenance and repair.
In conjunction with a need to handle debris and foreign objects placed in a card reader, there has been found a need to handle bent, bowed, or warped cards, as described in copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/272,661. Such warped cards do not follow the processing path within the reader. The leading edge of a warped card passes through the insert slot without being captured. Therefore, when the trailing edge passes the insert station, no support is provided for the card. Since the leading edge of a warped card normally passes through an insertion slot to contact a card ramp, bowed or warped credit cards miss this card ramp and fall through the debris opening, thus becoming confiscated.
It would be advantageous to provide an enclosure for an improved credit card reader.
It would also be advantageous to provide such an enclosure with a debris pathway for directing foreign objects.
It would also be advantageous to provide such an enclosure with a debris opening to allow foreign objects to fall out of the reader and towards the bottom of the enclosure, eventually falling out of the enclosure itself.
It would further be advantageous to provide such an enclosure and debris opening that would facilitate removal of such foreign objects but would discourage or prevent insertion of such foreign objects.
It would be yet further advantageous to provide an enclosure with debris opening in conjunction with a credit or smart card reader that can process bent, bowed, or warped credit cards.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an enclosure for a credit card reader. The enclosure has a top cover for protecting and enclosing the card reader and a base disposed below the card reader, enclosing the bottom surface thereof. In an alternate embodiment, the top cover need not be used. The base is configured to allow debris to be conveyed below the card reader. An aperture is formed between the top cover and the base. The aperture is aligned with the card slot opening of the card reader so that a user can insert a credit card into, and withdraw the credit card from, the card reader. The base of the enclosure is disposed at an angle relative to the horizontal for facilitating conveyance of debris to the rear of the enclosure. The base also has an outlet at its rear for allowing debris to fall out of the enclosure, preventing blocking of the card reader by debris.
The credit card reader itself can be adapted to process bent, bowed, or warped credit or smart cards. A normal, undamaged card is inserted into a slot provided in the insertion slot of the card reader. The normal card travels along a processing path contacting a supporting card ramp. Once fully inserted, the normal card is processed in the usual manner. The debris opening provided below the processing path adjacent the insertion slot allows any item other than a full card to drop out of the processing path.
In the case of a warped, bowed, or bent card, the debris opening is a trap for a deformed card. The card will be confiscated, rather than processed. The leading edge of a warped card passes through the insert slot without contacting the card ramp. Therefore, when the trailing edge passes the insert station, no stop is provided for the card. The card then drops through the debris opening without being processed. This is not desirable, owing to the fact that a great number of cards become deformed when carried in a back-pocket wallet. This results in certain valid cards being unintentionally confiscated by the reader.
In order to prevent this, the apparatus of the present invention provides a deflection guide disposed along the processing path adjacent the card ramp. The deflection guide has a curved or angled surface. The leading edge of a warped or bowed card impinges upon the deflection guide, after being inserted into the slot. The curved or angled surface of the guide forces the leading edge of the card into the processing path, where it comes to stop in the processing path.
It is an object of the invention to provide an enclosure for an improved credit card reader.
It is an object of the invention to provide such an enclosure with a debris pathway for directing foreign objects.
It is an object of the invention to provide such an enclosure with a debris pathway to allow foreign objects to fall out of the reader and towards the bottom of the enclosure, eventually falling out of the enclosure itself.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an enclosure with debris opening in conjunction with a credit or smart card reader that can process bent, bowed, or warped credit cards.